Player Killer
by sunhai guy
Summary: A group of video game junkies are responsible for saving the world from a maniacal game designer named after a fish.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the characters in this story except some of the main characters.

**A/N:** This story is meant to be played out in a virtual world. As such, there are lots of familiar characters and that's why it doesn't fit into one category. Again, take note that most characters arent mine. And now without further ado...

Player Killer

Prologue

"...A-R-I. Kentari," I yawned. It was 3 am, and I just nemed my character. I saved and turned the game off, then a soft tune rang from on my bed. I crawled out of a large chamber and answered. "Hello?" I groaned.

"Whassup, Kiriyu?" My friend Rico shouted at me brightly.

"Not me," I said groggily, "I just restarted Final Fantasy VII. I need some sleep."

The phone at the other end moved about and another voice appeared.

"What's going on?" He yelled loudly.

"Ryu, Rico," I said, "I need to sleep. See ya tomorrow."

I hung up and took the visor off my forehead and removed my electromagnetic suit. I looked down at the suit and noticed how far games had come. Before, everything was console-based. Now, it was virtual reality and much more realistic. Everything's controlled by an electromagnetic suit in a containment chamber and is viewed through a visor. These major memory-consuming games are saved on a backside-loading cartrige called a Memory Hex. I continued to reflect on it by myself until I fell asleep.


	2. I'm Tired

It took forever, but alas, I'm done with the typing. The original writing wasn't nearly descriptive enough but after several long months one page long chapter one is complete! Read and enjoi.

Chapter 1

I'm Tired

I awoke to the sound of the Hymn of the Fayth. My phone was ringing at 7 a.m. I answered angrily.

"It's seven in the morning! I got four hours of sleep! WHAT DO YOU WANT!?"

"Geez, Sorry," Rico said solemnly. "But listen to this. A couple weeks ago, a gaming company named after a fish bought out all the remaining software companies like Square Enix. There's no competition left in the industry! They released one game in the line up and it's supposedly revolutionary!"

"So there aren't going to be any new games for a while. So what?"

"Well, I bought it. I haven't played it yet, I'm waiting for you people to go get it. Ryu already did, go ahead. Grab your Memory Hex and go get it!"

Without even hanging up, I rushed out in last night's clothes. As I reached the local Rhino Video Games, I pulled the Memory Hex out of my pocket. I dashed through the door to the front counter. I handed him the hexagonal object and watched in agony as he took his time placing it into the socket and uploading the data. Sounds echoed from my phone but I ignored them. As he finished, I handed him fifty dollars and ran home as fast as I could. I went in and hung up my phone. Just as I locked the Hex into the socket, my phone played the Hymn again.

"Hello?" I snorted impatiently

"Hey, Ki," The feminine voice at the other end replied, "What's up?"

"Woah, Leena, Sorry," I flustered, "I'm about to start playing that new game, Enigma."

"Wow," She said brightly, "Me too! So listen. You, Ryu, and Rico need to log in and create two characters each, in case servers are full. But the one we're using is private so you can use any character. Just look up the characters' pictures, or any other models, and modify it if you want, or create one from scratch. One of each character is allowed per server to avoid confusion so it will be hard to get in certain servers. Once you're done, come to the private servers and use the password 'hitomi'. See you there!"

"Okay, bye," I said "Love ya." I turned the phone off and climbed into the chamber.


	3. Wow, It's so Real!

Chapter 2

I put on my suit and visor, and then turned on my headset microphone. I immediately contacted Ryu and Rico.

"Alright guys," I stated clearly, "We each need two characters, in case one is already in use by another player in the server. The one we're on now is private, so you can use anything. I want Cloud, nobody else can get him!"

"I call Master Chief," Shouted Rico.

"I really don't care," I replied. "Just do it."

I made my search for the FFVII model Cloud character. I uploaded the files and image data and, upon deciding to leave his model standard, I made another search for my next character. After deciding upon Ramza Beoulve, I located the private servers. I entered the password, and I was automatically taken to our game. In a bright flash of white that nearly blinded me, I was rematerialized in a tavern.

"Hey Cloud," I heard behind me. "Welcome to Hitomi's Tavern of Lost Ambitions."

"Woah," I said in surprise, "Is that you, Leena?"

"Yep," She replied happily. I turned to face her. She was walking in the doorway from the outside. "You like it?"

Her model was modified. She carried shining golden blonde hair and deep yellow eyes.

"…eh…uh, yeah," I said, dumbfounded, "You look great."

There was a flash in the center of the bar. Two shadows formed, but one quickly disappeared. The remaining shadow approached me. As color drew to its body, I realized who it was.

"SearchMan," he said boldly like a soldier, "Reporting for duty."

"Rico!" I shouted in surprise. "Where's Ryu?"

He pointed behind me. I turned to look and froze. Ryu was standing behind me with a small blade drawn in a childish pose.

"Took ya long enough," He said lamely.

"Hey, losers," Leena said to gain our attention, "Several things to remember. No NPCs except monsters. That means we each manage a shop in this town. In a couple hours, we will need to hire a multitude of other players to run our stores. Otherwise, we're stuck indoors. Only take with you what you need so we can pay it back and pay employees."

"Yes, dear," I said with a hint of sarcasm, "I understand. I call item shop!"

"Well I'll take the smithy," Rico stated.

"Bar's already mine," Hitomi said

"Crap, ya'll left me with the bank didn't you?" Whined Ryu.

We departed for the item store. We stocked up on a small amount of potions to keep ourselves alive, then departed to the wilderness to earn some Omega, and pay our way into keeping up with our town.

"SearchMan," I stated loudly, "Scan for targets."

A small eyepiece lowered to his face. "Scanning…Scan complete. Transfer to radar."

I looked up at the minimap and made my choice.

"Okay," I said. "Just past this ridge ahead, there's a large encampment of monsters just ahead. Slide down and attack Braveheart style."

"Yes, sir," Hitomi said. We jumped down and landed by hostile mud golems.

"Attack!" I shouted and drew my Buster Sword. It was a rather uneven match, four on eighty. A few less and it would be fair due to the games one-hit-kill battle system, but with only thirteen stamina points at level zero, this would be difficult. Regardless, I figured if there are so many of us, we shouldn't have a problem. I jumped onto the sloped ridge and slid to the bottom, sword raised above my head. Upon reaching the bottom, I jumped off and took a vertical swing at the golem in front of me. I easily cleaved through his clay skull and down to his legs. As the blade touched ground after coming all the way through the body, I looked to my left, and the next golem was upon me. I made a right twist to gain momentum and slashed horizontally, separating his torso from his legs. The next approached quickly and threw a punch, but I blocked his mud arm with the flat of my sword and turned tail. I took a punch in the back but kept running toward the ridge, checking to make sure he was behind me. I ran up the wall. He fell for it; straight into the cliff's side. I took a jump back, and beheaded the monster immediately. My level zero body couldn't take anymore, so I had to stop for a moment. I looked up at the battle around me.

Hitomi and Ryu were keeping up with themselves well. I observed as Ryu placed a hard fist into a golem's chest while Hitomi made a clean-sweep kick and he fell of his muddy legs. The next one came from behind and kicked him in the back of his head, taking several hit points and dropping his stamina considerably. He quickly disposed of it with a scissor kick, but was left drained with Hitomi.

Rico stood on the ridge firing several rounds at a time, but could only but a few down in his panic. He fired an entire clip but was only able to put seven down. As he reloaded, the golems began throwing mud balls at him. One caught him unaware and knocked him down the ridge.

I looked up as the golems surrounded us. We were far outnumbered and cornered. Just as one prepared to strike me dead, I saw a white line pass through his body, as well as about ten others. They fell apart at the seam of the line. I laid my head down softly and closed my eyes. Everything got brighter, as if the sun were a foot away. I heard a male voice speak with rage.

"END OF HEARTS!!"

Everything went white, and I passed out.

I felt a splash of cold water on my crotch and reflexively jumped out of my sleep. Ryu burst into tears of laughter.

"Ryu," I shouted, "Cut it out!" He continued laughing, but soon stopped.

I took a look around to survey my surroundings. I was propped on the side of the ridge next to a roaring campfire in the darkness. The game had a real sense of time, as it was dark. I assumed we had gone public, but I wasn't sure. The game most likely, I thought, would get dark at around six in the afternoon. SearchMan was posted on top of the ridge, on lookout for enemies. Hitomi was in a trace of sorts, training alone to the side. Ryu sat tending to the fire. I looked back at Hitomi and watched her move until I heard a ring. I didn't have a clue what it was but it wouldn't stop.

"You'd better get that," The male voice from earlier said. Assuming he was talking to me, I reached into my pocket and found a rolled up scroll. It was rather clean and new looking, as if made of a skin rather than parchment. I unrolled it and it laid bare my stat tables. I had raised two levels. I used my level one points to increase strength, then, after thinking about the fight, used the remainder to increase stamina. I rolled the scroll up and put it back in my pocket, then turned to see who was talking to me. Out of the shadows came quite the character. This player had a modified Squall Leonhart model character, with lengthened hair from Kingdom Hearts, and the FFVIII uniform. His voice, however, was not masked.

"You're lucky," Squall said. "If we hadn't showed up, you would be dead." He pointed toward civilization. "Monster levels are increasing uncontrollably. I was hired by Kalamari to get rid of the excess. In return, I get money, an awesome title, and a load of experience potions."

Another figure stepped from the shadow of the ridge. It was a Kasumi model character. "Well," she said, "now that we're all here, we can be introduced. I'm Kasumi the Hot Chick. Don't ask… he picked it."

"Squall Leonhart the Legendary Warrior," He stated boldly and with a stench of nerd.

"I am Cloud Strife the Sagacious Leader," I declared.

"Ryu Hayabusa the Unseen Shinobi," Ryu breathed.

"Sniper SearchMan," SearchMan said, still not looking away from his job.

"Hitomi the Bardancer," She stated.

Kasumi piped up. "He picked, didn't he?"

"No, I did," she replied.

I paused for a moment. "Can my party have a private moment?" We gathered together. "Experience potions… we need them. I don't like player killing for no reason, but it will be a great help." Everyone nodded in agreement. We pulled out of our circle. With me in front, I pointed deliberately and shouted, "Attack!"

We charged at Squall. I jumped up as he swung a low horizontal attack and made a quick downward slash with my Buster Sword. Without warning, He raised his Lionheart and not only deflected my attack, but busted my sword in two. With a blunt strike, I was destroyed before I hit the ground. At high speed, I hit the wall.

"COMET THREE!"

I lay in agony as fiery hell rained down on me. For some reason I didn't die, but I came real close.

I awoke at the bar.

"What happened?" I asked.

"You got wasted," he replied.

"Where are the others?" I asked next.

"Working. We've gone public." Downstairs I heard loud voices and Kid Rock. Our server was now open for public use.

"How come they're still conscious?" I asked.

"When you got mauled, they aborted the attack."

"Losers," I stated.

I got out of bed and walked down the stairs. It was a real big gathering, almost like a party. Up on the bar were Hitomi, Kasumi, and somebody with scratch model, most likely their real appearance.

"Cloud!" Squall shouted. "Get up here!"

I rushed up, expecting danger.

"Take these," He said, pointing to a drawer. I opened it to reveal eight silvery potions. "You did well in our fight," he breathed, "Besides, everyone else already had theirs."

I drank the potions and raised my stats. As I walked down the stairs, Hitomi called me over.

"Hey baby," she said, "Take over here. I'm having fun."

I got back behind the bar and pulled up a stool. Before long, I was swarmed. I was using far more stamina than should be necessary to sell off whiskey, wine and Jose. I took my seat, just long enough for one of the dancers to jump down. "Need help?" she asked. She was the girl with the scratch model.

"Sure," I said gratefully.

"Well hop to it," she replied, "We have orders to fill."

I grabbed another bottle of Sachsen and ran over to a man at the bar. I prepared to pour his glass, a loud screech echoed through the building. Everyone collapsed, covering their ears as the windows busted. Squall, unaffected by the noise, charged downstairs, gunblade drawn. The door flew in and a strange character flew in. Squall vertically slashed up the door and disposed of it without stopping, and swung diagonally down at the character. He was an Auron model character, but with gargoyle features. Stone skin, large bat wings, and cloven feet. He dashed just as Squall did, and attacked, his halberd striking the sword, leaving them at a stalemate.

"We meet again," The gargoyle seethed.

"Do I know you?" Squall replied in a demonic tone.

"No, but this blade must be disposed of!" He shouted. "The PK must not be allowed to cause harm!" He raised his arms and forced the PK out of Squall's hands.

"The blade has a green glow," I said to myself.

"Protect the players!" The gargoyle shouted at me. Weaponless, however, I could do little. The girl ran at him whipping a chain. Squall charged her way and hammered her into a wall. He picked up his blade and swung horizontally, and slit her leg open. But rather than the usual shock grunt, she screamed in pain and agony over her leg.

"Impossible…" I said, "No way!"

"What?" Hitomi asked quickly.

"Players can't be harmed physically in the game, only a shock is delivered when a player is injured in game. But she's in real pain…"

"Get the sword!" the gargoyle shouted again.

I ran at him, but without a weapon I was helpless. He grabbed my neck and threw me behind the bar. As he exited the building he turned to us.

"KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND!"

As he faded into nothingness, a horde of warriors charged the bar. I turned tail and ran to Hitomi's side to sit with her in hiding. It didn't help as the warriors charged through on an orcish rampage. I tucked her head under my arm and ran my hand in her hair. Suddenly an axe cut through the wood like sand quickly followed by a downward strike. My HP dropped to zero and I died.

"Aww, there goes all my hard work," I sighed. I fell with a thud. A conformation message sounded. I chose to spend one thousand Omega as opposed to reloading, as I hadn't saved. I was asked to choose a respawn point.

"Hmm…"


	4. Infiltration

As you well know, some people are idiots. Right? Okay. Some people have never played Final Fantasy or any Square games. Some losers have never even played HALO!!! So, therefore, I will give a brief explanation of characters introed in previous chapters, so as to avoid idiots asking, "Who's Auron?" ???? Losers.

Cloud- Final Fantasy VII main character.

SearchMan- Mega Man series.

Hitomi- Dead or Alive 3 and up.

Ryu Hyabusa- Dead or Alive series.

Squall- Final Fantasy VIII main character. Known as Leon in Kingdom Hearts.

Kasumi- Dead or Alive series.

Auron- Final Fantasy X and Kingdom Hearts II. Vithen is Auron Gargoyle, basically.

Begley- Neurotically Yours Foamy Videos. See now…finally…at last…no more interruptions…here goes…

Chapter 3

Infiltration

"To Destiny Islands," I stated carelessly. Might as well, nowhere else to go, I thought to myself.

In a flash, I was standing on a salty shore. I climbed up the beach to the tall tree and climbed the ladders littering it to the treehouse. There was a booming item shop there. I made a few purchases, then contacted Hitomi.

"Hey, do me a favor?"

"Anything," she replied.

"Get everyone including the gargoyle to Destiny Islands. And hire a guy to work the item shop so things don't get stolen."

"Five minutes," She replied.

"Alright." I walked down to the beach and waited for their arrival. When they got there, the gargoyle spoke.

"Now that it's peaceful," he said, "I am Vithen Dema the Disciple."

"Cloud Strife the Sagacious Leader," I yawned. I hated giving titles.

"Hitomi the Bardancer," Hitomi said.

"Ryu the Unseen Shinobi," He said.

"Spartan 117, reporting," Rico said in a powerful monotonous tone.

"Why'd you switch?" I asked.

"Cause I can, white boy," He replied. Everyone let out an 'ooh burn' laugh. "Darn, no gun shops here."

"We'll get to one later," I said, "First stat your character."

He opened his arm panel and leveled up his stats, revealing that it was different for each person.

"What now?" Hitomi asked.

"We need to find an advanced place on one of the servers. There is data from nearly every game ever in the game we're playing, there has to be one." The comment was responded to with a remark from Vithen's pocket.

"Try Shinra HQ…Try Shinra HQ…wooo…wooo…" The voice sounded British in accent.

"Good idea, Begley," Vithen said. "You're not a ghost, dumb-ass. Come out."

The voice climbed out of Vithen's pocket in the form of a small gray squirrel. He donned slanted eyes and a tall purple mohawk. He conversed with Vithen momentarily before returning to the robe pocket. Our destination decided, we headed off to the portal between servers. I held up my hand and clearly stated, "To Upper Midgar!" The others followed, and in a flash of light we disappeared.

We landed in front of a large sign that clearly read: SHIN-RA.

Upon reaching our destination, we formulated a small plan.

"Do we bust in or sneak?" I asked.

"I only have a handgun, people!" Chief exclaimed quietly.

"Deal with it; we're at a guarded building. Get guns inside. I don't have a sword, though I can manage."

"Well, I say just go," Vithen stated. Without saying anything, Chief ran off toward the door. He kicked through it and our mission was on as he placed several rounds into the guards' heads. We jumped in through the broken door. Instantly a security camera turned towards us. Before it sounded the alarm, Vithen let out a blood-curdling screech.

"Piercing," He stated, reading my mind. "Immobilizes all enemy units and detectors within a hundred yards."

We crossed the threshold and dashed for the stairs, as there was no elevator on the current floor. Chief grabbed two shotguns and another handgun from the soldiers he defeated, and maxed all his clips before entering the stairway.

He secured the stairwell as he climbed, shooting down soldiers as they hung over the rails. The next floor up, there was an elevator. It was, however, guarded by several soldiers and mechanical defenders. I charged into the room at the bladed robot and slid, my leg extended to block with my protective footwear, and grabbed one of the blades. I ripped it off, sending the robot into shock. I decapitated it and removed the remaining blades. While the others were shooting, I began tossing the blades at the soldiers, placing three of five into the soldiers' chests, incapacitating them. I grabbed an assault rifle from one as I ran for the elevator. One soldier still stood behind me. I dove backwards at the elevator and fired back at the soldier. I took him down with a bullet in his knee as I hit my head on the door. Chief finished the job as I climbed off the ground and called the elevator. Upon its arrival we forced our party in and ascended the hundred story building.

At level eighty, the highest the elevator went, we were released from our tight fit prison. I walked cautiously into the office that belonged to President Rufus Shinra. However, Shinra was not the man I saw sitting at the desk.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"Who are you?" I replied.

"I am President Kalamari," he replied with dignity.

"Well," I said in amazement, "I am Kiriyu Kentari. I need to speak with you. A player you hired is on a rampage. I was wondering what the problem is and if there is any way to help solve it."

"Oh, you mean Curtis," He replied. "Yes, Curtis is my first volunteer in my war against the world. He will help bring my dreams to fruition. He is my knight." I began to grow angry with his negligence. He was putting real lives in danger. "Soon this world will know my name, and I will rule over it as I deserve."

Without thinking, I lifted and pulled the trigger. Blood oozed from his forehead as he dropped dead on the floor. I noticed immediately that his chair emanated a bright blue light. Upon suggestion from the others, I sat down in it. The intercom came on, and a message was sounded by a feminine voice.

"SHIN-RA is now under new management. I repeat: SHIN-RA is under new management."

The scroll in my pocket began ringing again. I pulled it out and read it, then selected all my options.

"See…shared management, Kiriyu Kentari, Rico Sanchez, Ryunosuke Carrera, Leena Vance, and…what's your name?"

"Jarrod," Vithen replied, "Jarrod Ball." I put his name in as well, and closed the scroll. We were now the official owners of Shinra Electric Power Company. We would be rolling in Omega, more money than we would ever need. Now, with my wealth, power, and really hi-tech equipment, I began my search for Curtis.


	5. Teh Truth

And now, before we begin, there are still dumb-asses out there that know absolutely nothing but STILL read this story so I feel I have to do this.

Spartan 117 Master Chief- Halo

Begley- Neurotically Yours Foamy Videos. See that was fast but waits till after the next couple chapters there's still more new characters to see. So, after the world's shortest author's note…

Chapter 4

Teh Truth

I opened up a search through all the players in the game, but there were too many people of the same name to observe. I looked through several pages of people named Curtis, Curtis Jones, Curtis Amick, Curtis Berry, until I came to a distorted name, spelled CURT15 CR0UCH. Every couple seconds, some other characters in his name would distort and replace with asterisks, percent signs and exclamation points. I selected this person. A video link opened up and the computer spoke in a female voice, spouting information.

"Curtis Crouch," the computer stated, "Modified Squall Leonhart model. Based on observations, he clearly prefers strength and power over speed, stealth, or wisdom, and seldom thinks before he acts."

"Thank you, computer," I said gratefully, "Leave the vidlink open. Can you run a search on President Kalamari?"

"Certainly," the system replied. A screen appeared with his information.

"Access his private files," I requested.

"One moment," the voice returned. All his video diaries appeared.

"Play them all," I said. The vidlink switched to a smaller screen and Kalamari's diary appeared on the main monitor. Kalamari spoke.

"I, Dr. Daniel Kalamari, have succeeded where all others have failed. I am now prepared to become the world's first time traveler."

It skipped to the next day. "I have seen my fate and it is wondrous. Virtual reality is the future, and I am its creator."

It skipped again. "This is horrible. I am to die in the year 2060, one year after my grand discovery. There is a cure for this most dangerous virus, but it is very rare and cost more than even my future self possesses. I know not the name of this disease, or what cures it, but I must obtain it by any means, lest I die."

The video link closed and the link watching Squall appeared on the monitor.

I blinked. "Okay, so Kalamari gets sick. So what?"

"Metal Gear Solid," Vithen murmured.

"Do what?" Chief blurted, confused.

"Think," Vithen scowled, "In the third Metal Gear game, titled Metal Gear Solid, the terrorist group takes over the island and threatens the entire world with nuclear weapons to get Big Boss's remains."

"Imagine that Kalamari is the terrorists," I said, "and we're the world, and that cure is Big Boss. He threatens to kill us so he can get the cure without costing his entire life's earnings."

"But how does he threaten us?" Ryu asked.

"The virus," Vithen replied. "It can physically harm players in reality. He's got an army, and a world of hostages."

"We can't fight back," I said. "They just respawn and come after us.

"We need the virus," Ryu said sharply.

"You'll never get it," I demonic voice seethed. The doorway into the room darkened, and Squall stepped through. He was followed by a Sephiroth and a Lynx model character.

"You need my weapon's data for that," he shot at me. "But if you're dead, it won't help much, now will it?" He pointed at us with deliberation, and Sephiroth and Lynx charged. I turned to run, but all I saw was glass and the night sky. I fired through the glass to make a hole.

"Jump!" I shouted. I dove through the hole and the others followed. As we neared ground eighty floors down, I began to air roll to land on my feet. My feet made contact and placed firmly, but gravity crushed me to the ground. My HP depleted, and I died. Again. I paid my Omega to respawn, and respawned at Hitomi's bar. I contacted her.

"Get down to the bar," I told her, "I got an idea."


	6. Viral Transmutation

At long last, hello. No new characters to explain to morons, so…

Chapter 5

Viral Transmutation

In front of the remains of my town's top nightspot I waited. Finally, Hitomi showed up with the others.

"About time," I sighed.

"Deal with it," she replied. "So?"

"Alchemy," I stated. We'll find an alchemist."

I posted a notice immediately.

NOTICE

Professional Alchemist Needed

Know that by accepting, you put your physical being at stake.

Level 60 +, please.

We began reconstruction of Lost Ambition Tavern, but we had a reply within minutes. Several people stopped and read the notice, but left. One time, a man clad in a plated headband and hunting vest observed it and left us. Minutes later, a short blond headed kid showed up.

"An Ed Elric model character," Chief said. "I'll assume you're our alchemist?"

"Martin Santos," He declared, "Level 72 Fullmetal Model."

"Do you have a social life?" Ryu asked. "This game's been out for three days and you're already this strong?"

"You're Mexican?" Rico asked.

"Briefing time," he said, ignoring them. "What's the mission?"

"Your mission, should you choose to accept it," I declared, " is to aid our party in the retrieval of a Lyonhart gunblade infected with a virus. This virus has the ability to inflict harm on people. The virus must be relocated to disk."

"That's my mission?" Elric asked. "Alright, my assistant will bring our mission plans."

"Assistant?" I asked. Immediately, a kunai jammed into the ground in front of my feet.

"Patrick," Elric said, "That's our employer."

"Oh," the teenage voice said, jumping into view, "Sorry."

It was the same man who came by before, in the vest and headband. He was a ninja, a custom Naruto-style character from the fictional Wind Village. He wore a small tag, which, in Japanese, said "Atsumichi Battousei."

"Patrick Boswell," He stated, "A pleasure."

There was a loud thumping as Vithen approached. "Who're they?"

"Our alchemist, Martin Santos, and his assistant Patrick Boswell."

Vithen jumped about like a squirrelly little high school girl. "PATRICK!!!!"

"They bounced about happily and suddenly Patrick said, "You ready to die?"

"I'm gonna rip your asshair out!"

Atsumichi disappeared. There were several striking sounds before he reappeared, a long staff in hand. But there were only marks on Vithen's body. Vithen lashed out at him with a thrust, and three slashes at shin level. Atsumichi dropped back under the thrust, rolled under the first two slashes, and jumped up and off the third, then tossed a downward thrust, but Vithen stepped back and knocked the staff from the ninja's hand. He then rolled forward in the air from shock, and landed on his feet.

"Hey you guys," I said, "Can't we just have the plans?"

"Plans?" Atsumichi asked. "Oh. The other guy has 'em. Our mission coordinator."

"Where's he?" Chief asked.

"Hold on," Ed replied. "Rob!!!"

"I'm coming, dammit!" An unmasked semisouthern voice replied. Out of the town smithy came a Roxas model character. He was modified, however, to wear a red Dog Street hoody over his white shirt. He also donned a large collection of gamer chains, such as the Zanarkand pendant, Sora's crown pendant, Squall's Griever, and Sion Barzhad's pendants. He also had a large metallic case strapped onto his back.

"He's absolutely the biggest nerd ever," Atsumichi said quietly, then quickly held up his hand and caught a kunai between his fingers.

"Rob hates when Patrick does that," Ed explained.

At last he arrived and set down the enormous case. Engraved on the front were a Triforce, and the words: "To Rob, from the One you Love."

"Still don't know who sent it," Roxas said. "Wanted to say Angelica, but she's not a game person." He opened the case to reveal his new weapon: the Master Sword. Or at least a replica. There was also a sheath and a Hylian shield under it. He removed the equipment and lifted the foam casing to reveal blueprints. He removed it and placed it on the ground.

"We're dead if we go straight in," Rob explained, "So we sneak in the maintenance shafts. They shouldn't be very heavily guarded. Just the same, we must be careful with the guards that are posted. Follow the paths as far as we can, then ditch them for the elevator, which we take up to level eighty. Curtis shows up, we get the sword, we leave, and transmute the data to flash drive."

"I can do that," Ed verified.

"Also," Roxas said, "One more thing. Double the size of this sword. It's too small."

"He did as Roxas asked and increased its size twofold. Roxas swung his Master Flamberge a few times.

When nothing else happened, I led my group to the portal and raised my hand, declaring: "UPPER MIDGAR!"

There was the usual flash, and our large group was where it belonged.

Being still without a weapon, I said, "Rob, toss me your shield." He gave it to me and we pushed on. We snuck past the front door around the sign that boldly read SHIN-RA. There was a sentry posted by the maintenance door. We had no long-range weapons, save for Chief's handguns. He drew his weapon, and took aim. Just as he fired, we all dashed. The bullet entered straight through his temple, and blood sprayed the wall in uneven splotches. I grabbed his Desert Eagle and entered the maintenance hatch, closing it quickly. "What now?"

"Final Rest," Roxas replied, referring to the first Kingdom Hearts. "No going back. Equipment check!"

Chief maxed all his clips. I maxed mine. Hayabusa made sure his kunai were secure, as did Atsumichi, who also checked the blades hidden in his staff. Vithen checked his halberd for cracks in the pole and that Begley was in his pocket. Roxas was already set. Hitomi retied her boots and tightened her knuckle gloves.

"Okay," He said. "Just go this way."

We began our trek through the shaft. "So," I asked Ed, Atsumichi, Roxas, and Vithen, "How do y'all know each other?"

"We all go to the same school," Vithen replied.

"Where at?" Ryu asked.

"Batesburg Leesville, South Carolina," Roxas replied.

"We're in Oregon," Chief said.

"Quiet," Roxas whispered. We entered into a room with air vent gratings. Several players were being escorted onto the elevator. "This is it, guys. Martin, make a door."

He started with the ritualistic clap to ignite the energy flow, and pressed his hands against the wall. Instantly, a large section disappeared.

"Hey!" One of the soldiers shouted. The door closed before he could get out. We pressed the call button, and waited. When the door opened again, the man was staring down three guns. He surrendered, and we tossed him into the maintenance shaft; Edward sealed it afterwards. We took the elevator to the eightieth floor and prepared to face Curtis.


	7. All Is One, One Is All

Idiot assistance time…

Ed Elric- Fullmetal Alchemist main character.

Atsumichi- Patrick's OC. From the fictional Wind Village of the Naruto universe.

Roxas- Kingdom Hearts 2. Sora's "other half."

All Roxas' clothing is allusions to:

The Bouncer- Dog Street hoody, and Sion's pendants

Final Fantasy X- Zanarkand necklace

Final Fantasy VIII- Griever

Kingdom Hearts- Crown pendant

Zelda- his Master Flamberge

And now…

Chapter 6

All Is One, One Is All

We reached level eighty. Before the door opened, I spoke.

"Get the gunblade," I ordered. "After that, we run." They gave a positive answer. There was a clunking, moving sound as the door slid open. Just as there was enough space, Atsumichi dashed through, flinging several kunai. He was followed by our militia, and more fire from Chief and I. Squall charged us, taking every shot in the chest. He lashed upward at me with his lethal blade. I immediately ceased fire and dodged to his left. Being cut would mean my life and I wanted to keep that. He turned toward me and raised his sword. But he didn't strike; instead took a large gash from his left shoulder down to his right hip from Roxas' flamberge. He unhitched his sword from Squalls innards and let him fall.

"Quick, before he respawns," I shouted, "Get the sword. Transfer data!"

He performed his usual, and the data moved to flash drive.

"ATTACK!!" Squall shouted, having returned. He ran forward, grabbing his sword, followed by the same Sephiroth and Lynx characters.

"Run for it," I said, "Out the window!" We took our dive out the same window hole I had made before. We all died, but it was better to respawn than to be gone forever. We all revived in our little happy places, myself on Besaid Beach, and then transported to the unfinished bar.

"I got the data," I said excitedly.

"Great," Hitomi replied.

"Where's Martin?" Vithen asked.

"Oh my God…" Roxas heaved. "I think they got him."

Immediately Atsumichi collapsed in despair.

"No…" Roxas sighed, "What will we tell Daniela?"

"I don't know," I replied, "But if we don't do anything, it could happen to millions more."

"That's right," an evil voice hissed. Squall dropped from the sky.

"Curtis!" Vithen growled.

"Very good," Squall applauded. "You've stolen my weapon's potency. You're smart; I'll give you that. Even I wouldn't have thought of using cyber-alchemy." He sneered. "But, nonetheless, your alchemist friend is dead and gone. So please… return my data, or share his fate." Without answering him, I shouted an order.

"GAG! Standard Formation Seven! Six-point Triforce!" Surprisingly, everyone followed my order. We charged him in a triangle formation with an extra person in between each point. We trapped him in the center and began revolving around him. He took several hits from the people around him, and when his back was to me, I jumped out and snapped his neck.

"You need a sword," Roxas laughed.

We set out toward the smithy. "So," I asked, "How'd you know that formation?"

"We're GAG! Founders," Vithen stated. "High Commander and Battle Commissar Vithen Dema the Lost Disciple."

"THE Vithen Dema!?" Chief belted in shock.

"Battle Sergeant Saturn Alchemist," Roxas added.

"This is so COOL!" Ryu exclaimed.

"Right, sure," Roxas said, "But first to the smithy. Kiriyu needs a blade." We walked three yards to the smithy and had a Ganondorf greatsword forged and gave the kid working there all we had, then saved our games immediately.

"Whoa, it's late," I said. "I'm out. Tomorrow, we'll install this virus to our weapons and destroy Curtis. I don't want to kill him, but…"


End file.
